A new appointment-booking tool designed for remote working due to Covid has been introduced by adventure travel operator Explore
The aim is to ensure the company’s agency sales team stays effective and connected with its travel agent partners.
Appointments can be booked with Explore’s agency sales team.
Agents select the business development manager they would like to talk to according to the expertise and specialisms outlined in their profiles, select the type of session via Microsoft Teams or by phone and then find an available date and time to book.
Sessions are then booked directly into the respective BDM’s calendar. Once a session has been booked, agents will receive an email confirmation which includes a calendar invite and allows the flexibility to cancel or reschedule their appointment.
The platform is integrated with Microsoft Teams so agents that request video appointments will be sent a video link their confirmation.
Head of global sales Ben Ittensohn said: “To adapt to the current environment, we understand that we need to make positive changes to suit the needs of our agency partners.
“With face-to-face visits paused for the time-being, we‘ve devised a new appointment-booking system that enables agents to engage with our team in the usual manner, covering the same topics as an in-person sales call, but within the ‘virtual’ world. The platform will better support the growing number of homeworkers too.”
He added: “We’re confident that agents will find the system simple to use and that it will help connect them with our team who are currently on ‘flexi-furlough’.
“Agents can see when our BDMs are working on a weekly basis and can book appointments up to 60 days in advance.”